"Mum"'s The Word

First off, we'd like to thank you for your well wishes for our Brother-in-law, Bobby, and his family. Lynne will be back soon with an update on his condition, but at last report, he had been moved to a regular hospital room to continue recovery.

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The last 2 weeks have brought our chrysanthemums into full bloom. Some of most brilliant ones have been from wild native clusters we have. It's an interesting display, because it seems that the amount of sunlight, and what the soil condidions are, determine the color of this native plant. these are all the same plant, with different sun exposures and soil additives.






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These mums in the cottage garden were cut down and divided to about 1/6th their size last spring, but even with pruning through the summer, they showed they'll have to be moved next year to a new location...they just took up too much space again!



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These have come back from small potted mums from 2 years ago

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While these are some of last year's transplants

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And, there's some new ones to plant out once the flowers fade.

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We've had several new butterflies visit the gardens and especially the mums over the last few weeks. This species, called an ADMIRAL Butterfly, has been around on the warmer days we've had, and seem to like the native mums the best.


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As Lynne alluded to, we had a busy weekend with some new friends who were in the area checking out some houses for a possible relocation in the not to distant future. They drove down from New Jersey, and we offered our driveway for them to park their motorhome in while they spent 2 days out and about house-hunting. Of course, the grill got a workout again. Hopefully, the "Groundhog" family will be back to visit again while they relocate. It was great having them here for their brief stay.
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The following Sunday, it was PARTY TIME!!!




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To celebrate a couple belated birthdays, (John and Celeste's) we had the family over for the afternoon, and it was a beautiful day for the grandchildren to play outside for a couple hours.
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While the food was finishing up on the grill, Celeste entertained us on the back porch when she discovered our stash of home grown gourds and the decorative pumpkins :)




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After a dinner of ribs and hot wings, it was time for the cake. Mom joined us for a little while, and anxiously awaits her serving.

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Celeste and cake seem to go well together, as the pictures below show. I think John kinda likes our new kitten, Skittles, and was trying to show her to Celeste, but she was more interested in her cake and icing :)



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Celeste brought her Halloween costume with her, but she didn't seem interested in trying it on for us.

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Speaking of Skittles, the other cats are slowly accepting the fact that she's here to stay. It's been an interesting couple weeks, as they slowly adjust to their new 'little sister'.





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And, as always, some random shots from around the yard.











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Again, we thank you for stopping by and sharing our little slice of life here in the Heartland, as the remodeling continues, and life is Wonderful.