Garden and Homeschool News-On the garden front there is quite a bit to talk about. Most of my plants have made it through the hot summer. I have a mystery plant continuing to grow in my compost. It gets taller by the day! I am going to post it here later to see if anyone can tell me what it is. I have one squash plant that's thriving! That one plant will be plenty for us.

We had a great rain last night. It was wonderful to listen to the thunder and rain on the roof. There isn't a better sound when you live in the southwest!!

I've found two surprise animals in the garden in the past month-a huge toad sitting in my bird water, and a water snake under it, when I picked it up to empty it. Seeing snakes is rare around here. It was a scare at first!

On the homeschool front_I am still going to help Jen with Billy so I want to start looking for curriculum. Last year we accomplished a lot in math. This year I want to do more in writing too.

Planting a lot!!

I have planted so many things in my little garden. It's so fun to watch them grow. Even some mystery plants are growing all around the garden.

Bobby got me some of the upside down tomato planters and put them up while I was gone. What a nice surprise!!

Some plants are coming back to life. Like my salvia plant and my hibiscus. Also, Morning Glories are springing back up.

I put a bird feeder out and now it's fun to watch which birds come to eat. So, that's my progress in the garden. Hope to have more pictures soon!

Some Plants Surviving!

In spite of the freezing weather we've had, some of my plants are hanging in there. They are outside too. Among these are, Snapdragons, Hollyhock, succulent ground cover, lavender. I water them from time to time also.

My two stray cats are fat and furry, and every day they are clamoring for their food. I am attached to them! I wish they could come in the house, but my dogs are a threat. Oh well, they have a sunny place in front of the porch and shelter under the porch. I notice that they get out and roam around when the dogs are in the house.

My Christmas Cactus continues to bloom all the time. What a treat! Also the geraniums in the bedroom window continually bloom. I love that!!

So, I bought some wire working tools and I hope to come up with some ideas for a project in the near future. Maybe some hanging things outside this spring.

Fun Xmas Lights

I have had several wine bottles that I kept thinking I could do something with. Finally, I was inspired by some ideas on the net. I bought thin strings of Christmas bead decorations at the Dollar Store, some bows, and my daughter loaned me a hot glue gun. I also bought very cheap mini lights at the Dollar Store to put inside the bottles. In no time I made one for me. Then I made my daughters one, and my best friend wanted one. I am going to take a picture of one later today and post it. I didn't drill a hole in the bottom of the bottle to run the lights through because I didn't have a way to do it, but it's quite pretty the way it is.

On the houseplant situation, I have been dealing with fungus gnats! I took my daughter's advice and watered with a mixture of left over coffee, dish soap, and water, and I think it worked!!!!

Winter is Blowing In!

Well, winter seems to be making an appearance. We have an approaching storm and freezing temperatures on the way. I went out to the garden and picked cherry tomatoes, also chrysanthemums that were blooming.

This year was so strange as my Moonflowers, Eggplant just recently bloomed. I found a stray bean plant in the compost pile, along with some other plant I can't identify.

My house is full of plants I brought in for the winter. I love having them all in here to look at though.

My winter garden chores will consist of keeping the wild birds watered, and wishing for spring!

Orchid Cactus Bloom

Lots of Rain!!

We've had so much rain this week! It's been great. Although it is getting cooler some things are still blooming and growing. I got one Acorn squash, a few crysanthemums, some cherry tomatoes to bring in. It seems this summer wasn't great for blooming plants. The Hibiscus never bloomed, the Moonflowers also didn't bloom. Very disappointing! Well, there's always next spring.

I have two new plants coming up in the compost pile. I think one of them is a few lettuce plants, and the other, I can't tell yet.

Anyway, I feel sadness, knowing soon I won't be gardening for a while. I will make do with planning which plants I want for next spring.