Late Summer Garden.................

I stepped onto the front porch this morning and took a breath.  It was oh so cool and lovely, a morning not seen in these parts in so long, perfect for some early watering before the heat returned. I dashed upstairs and grabbed my shorts and tank top, stepped into my flip flops, and hurried back to the porch with my first mug of strong black coffee.........and my camera.  Sipping in the cool sunshine, I walked about the front garden, checking what was left of Summer blooms.  I saw this moth perched on one of the last sunflowers facing east as the sun crept steadily up the Carolina blue sky..............then, turning to another flowerbed, I saw the bright squash blossoms and tiny pale green squash.

I didn't plant a single squash seed this Spring/Summer knowing I was going to be traveling, and that the heat index was to hover over 100 degrees most days.  In fact this was the first time in many years that we gave up the idea of a vegetable garden........and how we've missed a sun-ripened, juicy tomato and a handful of fresh beans at supper time!

So here we are, in our second week of September, seeing the first acorns drop and welcoming a few healthy looking Summer squash which arrived out of the blue. I heaped compost from our bin around the Peace roses before heading to the West end of July and can only surmise that there were seeds from last year ready to germinate in that rich soil once exposed to sunshine and warmth.

As we're always saying, Nature is full of surprise.  Hey, looks like I may get a few homegrown veggies after all!