THURSDAY !!!!!!!!!

Yes, I know, it is another photo of a morning glory.  I was up early with my wife to go to Des Moines yesterday and I found out why I couldn't get a photo of the ones outside the door. The seem to be blooming when the sun comes up and then they close up by 8:00 in the morning.  I snapped it right away before breakfast as by the time we got  home everything would be shriveled up. Today's rain is destroying them as the rain seems to tear at the thin walled trumpet flower. I have a new darker purple flower out at the shed but the rains have smashed them to shreds.

The river birch is doing well with all the rains we have had all summer.  Today it rains.  Our state capitol wasn't getting it so they weather people were not to excited about it.  It has rained now since 5 this morning when I got up with Button.  I take Button out the side porch and sit him under a Japanese yew bush and he doesn't get wet while doing his business.  I on the other hand had to get a towel and dry my hair.

Button turned 17 years old a few days ago.  When we first got him he was about the size of a guinea pig.  We would carry him around in the nap of our neck and that is where is wanted to be.

He requires a lot more carrying now that he is old but it just works better to get him up and down stairs and outside without him having a lot of confusion.  He can still jump up on the couch and find his favorite pillow.  He sees pretty well considering his low vision capacity and I think his nose keeps him out of trouble when he wants to find his way.  His nose can sure know when we have chicken for supper as he is ready for his fair share.

The oxalis that is planted in the large pot is doing well.  It has lots of blooms as it quit raining for a week or so.  It had a bigger problem with too much rain this summer and it made it sluggish to bloom.  I brought outside my second planting of this that is in a smaller pot and I think it will have to be put into something larger before I bring it in.  It is nice how I can just let the outside weather to take care of them for me and they are of little work to none at all.

 The moss rose is struggling but I still have a few blooms on it.  There isn't a drain plug in the granite ware pan and I won't be putting one in it either. So I need to keep moving the pan out from under the free rainfall so it doesn't get too wet.  I guess I need to bring it onto a side porch so I could control it better.  I have not good luck in growing this moss rose directly in the ground but I have had a few years of success in this pan.  For some reason it grew better in southern Iowa when I was a kid than in the location where we live now.

The transitions of the seasons are disturbing sometimes but the gentle change is better than waking up to ice and snow on the ground over night. My biggest problem is that I need to get to work on those things that make the garden look like it was abandoned and then it snowed. When the rain stops I will get outside and get to work doing a few things.  I am glad we got some rain and we needed it.  I don't like the mosquitoes coming back as it rains but that is happening.  I should be done with the tomato picking the next few weeks and I will be picking big apples from the tree the next few days. 

Thank you for stopping by today.