Early September at Kat's Corner.

It is Monday morning and you can tell it is September.

We are starting to cool down a little at last.

The temp outside is 61 degrees Fahrenheit, that is about 16 degrees Celsius.

This little guy won't hang around much longer, he likes it warm.

He lives in the rock garden up around the house, he eats bugs.

Mushroom.

More mushrooms. We see them all summer, but there seem to be more in the fall.

This pretty little flower will be gone soon. Better appreciate them while they are here.

You have seen this guy before, here is a better view.

He has a great singing voice, one of my favorite sounds of summer.

The tomatoes and basil won't last much longer either.

Commercially grown tomatoes just don't taste as good.

Soon we will go from morning tea on the balcony to tea in front of the fire.

I am looking forward to fall, leaves changing, cooler weather and cozy mornings snuggled in. Even Spontaneous is more comfortable when it is cooler, although she never complains.

Every season here has it's charms, but I will miss summer.

What will you miss the most about summer?

What are you looking forward too?

Cheers,

Kat

Meanwhile, back at the ranch,,,,,,

                            

I know, it isn't really a ranch, but I wanted to use the title anyway. While we were away, Summer appeared. This is the first of these little lizards I have seen so far this year. He was hanging out in the rock garden. Hopefully he will stick around and invite friends, they eat bugs.

When I was little, Mom had these in her garden, we called them tiger Lillies. I just know I like them. We have them all over the yard right now.

A close up of my Lavender. I need to spend some time pulling the weeds that are growing up in it and try to encourage it to spread. I love the stuff! I am so glad it does well here.

This blossom is huge. Eight to ten inches across easy. They smell good too.

Now for a little farther away. We have been walking in some new areas lately. This stretch is a new favorite. There are shady woods.

There is a lovely meadow.

I took pictures of two different types of butterflies. I don't know the names of either one, do you?

This one looks as if it is wearing a painted velvet cloak.

We found a treat. We were only able to gather a small handful of ripe ones, but oh my they are good.

I don't really need to explain this one.

There is even a lazy little river that wanders under a bridge.

Spontaneous looks a little grumpy. Guess I better stop and spoil her a little.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Kat

Sunday Morning

I have gotten a little behind with this, I can't believe it has been 6 days already. To make up for it, I will post extra pictures. We went camping again last night. I didn't take the camera because of the heat. Our high temps are in the 90's right now and that is not good for batteries. We had a lovely evening and slept well.






This morning when we got home, I was greeted by the most lovely and intense scent. My magnolia tree is going nuts. It is covered with blossoms.



The first photo is a bud, I call them cups because I love to stick my nose in and just drink in the scent. This one is
about the same size as my tea mug. You have to do this
cautiously as we share our home with a hive of wild bees.






I will admit to being afraid of bees, but we have come to
to an understanding, I leave them alone and they leave me alone. We thought about having them removed but apparently, bees are in danger from some sort of mite. Our wild bees are doing well so far and we have been advised to leave them alone. I am still afraid of them, but I like having them around. I like the sound they make when they all hum together. I am even getting quite brave with the camera, although they are apparently camera shy. I had to take several photos to get this one.


I was sitting on the porch with a cup of tea and enjoying the early morning concert from the bees and the birds, when I spotted another visitor. This little guy currently lives in a planter full marigolds on my porch steps. He yawned and posed so sweetly for me. He doesn't make any noise when he blows up his neck sack, I think it is some kind of mating ritual, sort of like putting on a tie.




The last photo is him on the rim of his home. With that, I will sign off for now. My sweetheart says pancakes are ready!

Wild rose

Here are a couple
more photos. Took these while I was on a walk. The lizard let me get this close, then he took off.

We are planning on camping soon, hopefully I will find more cooperative wildlife. Last time we went camping, I did not take my camera and we saw a black squirrel.

We have a lovely old VW van that we love to camp in. This will be the first time my husband and I have camped without the children since before they were born. Weird, very weird.

On another weird note, one of the bird nests on our porch was just knocked down by something. My husband says he thinks it was a black snake. Either way, the nest is empty.