The rain we’ve had this month has really helped the gardens after the very dry summer.

The roses are doing their best to make their late-season come back. The Japanese Beetles are still kicking around, but there are fewer each day.

Above L-R. Amazing Grace, Prairie Princess, Reflecting Glory

I bought Refleting Glory on clearance last year, and it’s definitely one of my best clearance buys. Not only is it’s beautiful – it’s one of those roses you can smell just by standing near it!

I still have plant to expand the Fence border garden in the back yard – I have all those day lilies, Asiatic and Oriental lilies I bought to plant out into it.

While I haven’t had time to plant them, I have kept them nice and healthy in their pots and this one has bloomed. It’s called Salmon Party. It should be more… well salmon… in color. But like Hocus Pocus, the colour will probably develop with age. It’s just nice to see big healthy blooms!

I have waited all summer for these….

These are the Blue Pictoee Morning Glory that I started from seed this year. They are just stunning – definitely worth the wait.

And while I’m not getting any Passionfruit this year…

But the Maypop flowers are blowing me away! I am so glad I bought them. I have to make sure they get extra mulch so they make it through the winter (we are just on the edge of their viable growing zone)

The real stars of the season are the sunflowers. They are all over the yard.

These two – in the backyard are both volunteers.. The light yellow one the right is in the catio, and that’s a bit of a danger – the finches LOVE the sunflowers. SO I’m keeping that one dead-headed to avoid the temptation of fresh seed. It was just too pretty to pull completely.

We’ve got a wide range of sunflowers too – from teeny fluffy ones (like Teddy Bear on the left) to big, and bold.

This one has small blooms, but that great rusty burnishing. It’s growing up by Squirrelington’s, so it’s safe to leave it to go to seed.

And then there are the pure red ones – from bright and fiery to deep and mysterious!

Burton’s got some new friends for the Spooky Season….

Don’t worry Burty! No stuffy will ever compare to your magnificent squishiness!

It’s been a fairly rainy, grey month so far, so it makes my current knit super appropriate….

And as you can see, Burton models it perfectly!

To refresh, as it’s been a hot minute since I’ve shared this project. It’s a shorty pair using the leftovers from the Slip Stitch sock.

I love how the grey yarn is knitting up! And it’s so soft and squishy! I can’t wait to get the second sock knit and off the needles! But it’s going to have to wait a bit – I’ve got an office to prime and paint! (Renos are on track! Woohoo!)

Sick of butterflies yet? No? Good – neither am I

We’re seeing quite a few Red Admirals this month.

But this is the first Painted Lady I’ve seen this year. Painted Lady is one of my favourite butterflies.

And there have been all kinds of Skippers.

These little Crescents have also been very abundant this year. They seem to prefer yellow flowers, so I was tickled to capture this one on a pink Cosmos.

And the Monarchs…

Have been amazing this year. They are starting their long journey south so we are seeing so many of them – even while out driving – I easily spot them fluttering over the roads and farm fields.

I got very excited on the weekend – I was headed from the shed to the catio and something in the veg gardens caught my eye…

Can you see it? Let’s take a closer look…

How about now? Yup. That’s a little monarch chrysalis hanging from Mr. Raccoons book. And on first glance, I thought it was close to opening.

It was brown, and still mottled with green. When a monarch is close to emerging, the chrysalis goes clear and looks mostly black. This one has most likely been the victim of a parasitic wasp. It’s the circle of life, I’m afraid. Only 5% of monarch caterpillars make it to butterfly stage.

It just makes every one of these as little extra special!

In addition to renovations and gardening (and laundry) I also did a little stitching on my fairy.

All I had left to do was the outlining. But there was a lot of it!

I used to HATE outlining. But something has happened with age… like binding, I find it oddly soothing. I just stitch and stitch and stitch and don’t worry how close to finishing I am.

And eventually…

There’s nothing left to outline. You sit back. You admire your work. You do a little internal celebration. You compare it to the picture on your pattern.

And then you notice…

You forgot to stitch her poor foot!

So, you’re going to have to wait until next week for an FO post!

It’s Labour Day today… a nice long weekend here in Canada. But as I mentioned on Friday… I had work to do!

Saturday, I taped the new drywall hung in my office. Sunday it got a coat of mud. While you’re reading this, I’ll probably be up there sanding (and cursing). I’m going to try to paint the ceiling and wood work (closet and a beam) during the week after work, and with any luck, I’ll be painting those wall this coming weekend!

Of course, there’s still floors and trim too – but it’s starting to feel like progress!

But working on the office wasn’t the only thing I got up to.

I did some laundry – and it still delights me to see it hanging out on the line! And of course, that amazing smell when I bring it all back in!

I did a fair bit of work in the gardens. Mostly weeding, but these two.

Helped me hack down the dead parts of the Honeysuckle from the catio fence. Furby kept my stepstool warm when I wasn’t using it, and Lemmy took stock of all the dead vines as they came off the fence.

That corner of the catio certainly looks bare without it there. But I was happy to see that it wasn’t completely dead. There were some branches coming from much lower down that were growing green and strong. I left them, so they can help feed the roots before winter. With any luck, it will come back bigger and better next year!

It’s back to the day job tomorrow…

I think once I’m done sanding, I’ll be joining Rupert for a well-earned rest.

While I am thinking about my garden of bones… the garden of flowers is still going strong. Here’s a look at what’s still in bloom this month.

September is here, and of course that means I’m preparing for the Spooky Season. My little of garden of bones grows every year… and this year….it’s REALLY growing!

First… the graveyard got a new centrepiece.

Meet Gary!

Gary (on his pedestal) is pretty much as tall as me! And as you can see… he lights up! I think every graveyard needs at least one gargoyle.

And in addition to Gary…. I did it. I finally did it.

I bought the 12 foot skeleton. (I haven’t settled on a name yet). Now… he doesn’t look like much above. That’s the picture from the Home Depot website. I don’t have a picture of him put together yet… in fact… I had to go out and buy some extra large totes to store his pieces in until he’s ready to go outside next month.

This picture may give you a better idea of his scale. He was all stacked up on my big bench until I could get those totes. He’s a big one, that’s for sure. And yeah…. I totally did not really consider storage when I made the decision to buy him. Dave says after this, I’m maxxed on out decorations…

Good thing he doesn’t know about the skeleton fairies I have plans for… they are small though. I can sneak them in.

It’s a long weekend here…

I’d like to say I’ll be taking it easy this weekend like this one…

But that’s a luxury reserved for orange cats only…. Burton and I have work to do!

This one is a little video story… in three parts… so sound on.

And here’s some close ups of Mr. Columbo…