Fall blooms

Good morning folks ~ It is Monday, a new week, one of getting used to the time change, and one for working inside and out.

The ground is still soggy here from the heavy deluge of rain we got from Philippe. Below is a picture of the driveway the next day. There was standing water in different parts of the property. We sure have a lot of green don’t we?

After Philippe moved northeastward, a cold front moved in and the next morning this is how my scullery window looked. It was 58 and real feel was 54. Right now at 11:51 p.m. EST it is 83 and feels like it is 90. The cool weather didn’t last long.

Last week I was out of my ‘comfort zone’ a bit as I was on a little adventure of checking on and visiting my bro & sis-in-laws two felines, Zoe and Peppy (who I call Pepperoni), while they had a lovely week with friends in Cancun, Mexico. BIL & SIL live about 25 miles north of me. I do NOT drive I-95 or the turnpike, just way too fast for me and stresses me out. That route would take me 30 minutes less, my slower route takes about an hour each way.  Worth it to me for the stress level, zipping along at 65-70 mph is just too fast for me. I’ll post pics from my times spent there in another post. I went there Tues. Thurs. and Sat.

Being there did make me appreciate my little Plum Cottage, and I was refreshed and inspired by my time spent there. BIL-SIL are living here until they find another home to buy. They sold the home they had lived in for many years, this past spring and moved into this rental, to be closer to BIL’s job. It is lovely and peaceful, a quiet gated community on the water, just off the intra-coastal waterway. Nice to enjoy the water views and the clouds in the sky passing by. I was inspired to work on my place by their lovely home and the way she has decorated.

This morning I started working on the bedroom, moving things out, making plans for some rearranging. I’ll need my BIL’s help in moving things, then we/he can start work on repairing living room west wall and I’ll be able to paint and then we can move in the two matching bookcases and the tv stand piece (from them) that will go in between bookcases. A couple of days ago I started feeling excited for no reason, and this morning starting to do this work made me feel even more excited.

Ok, now for some fall blooms here at Plum Cottage tropical gardens. Enjoy. They give me much pleasure in their colors and scents.

Philippine Violet blooms along with yellow firecracker flowers and a lone Wine Cup rose.

Philippine violet flower with a Skipper butterfly sipping nectar.

This is a lilac tree, grown from seed. The flowers have a delicate sweet scent.

Hibiscus Tree bloom ~ This is the trees that grow along my driveway and hang over from the neighbors. These are fast growers, a real pain. DH used to keep these cut back on our side. The flowers start out yellow and turn a salmony color as they age and fall off.

Mexican petunia and below that are morning glories.

Pink Muhly grass

Plumbago

Port St. John vine

Confederate Rose (I think) and visiting ants.

Wild petunia of sorts.

Cape Coral Honeysuckle, I also have this in a bright orange.

Wooly Jasmine

Barnhouse rose

Coral knockout

Kathleen

Maman Cochet

Mozart

Not sure which rose this is.

This might be Mozart again or else a little rose called Picnic.

Prosperity

Winecup

Evening sunlight hitting the pine trees.

St. Francis, a wonderful old cement statue we got at a flea market for $10 many, many years ago. I love it’s old patina. He’s about 3 feet tall.

Miss Tork minding her p’s & q’s, then looking at me to see what I’m doing.

That’s it. I hope you are all finding beauty in each day and enjoying getting into the start of the holidays.

FlowerLady