Amanda wrote several weeks ago that she always feels the shift in the seasons around August 1st. It took me a little longer, but this week, I know what she means. The lake feels colder, the days are clearly shorter, and we are waking up chilly in the morning. Some of the trees in our yard are already dropping leaves.

It seems however that my tomatoes didn’t get the memo. They’re going bonkers, and the full-sized fruits are finally ripening. I took a cup of the yellow cherries over to Barbara today to share the bounty, there are that many. Do tomato plants make you itch? The cherry tomatoes don’t bother me, but if I touch the other plants without gloves, I get rashy.

Haven’t picked a single bell pepper yet, and I’m hoping this little dude will turn yellow as he’s supposed to, and soon. I’d hate to lose it to frost. And despite my early excitement over my celery experiment, the plant hasn’t done diddly squat since. The cucumbers, however, are a success. Swee and I have made several jars of pickles already, and we’re eating the cucumbers as fast as we can pick them.

My big girl and I planted flower seeds all over the yard, and only these marigolds and cosmos came up. I managed to convince her that we should enjoy them in the garden rather than picking them for the house.

We’re still cutting hydrangeas for the table. They’re big and showy, and just so much fun to arrange. I have no idea what these little pink blossoms are. They grow on a vine in the weeds, and just showed up this week. Any ideas?

I’m heading out of town for several days next week, and leaving J semi-alone with the girls overnight for the first time. His dad is coming up to help since J also starts classes next week. I’m not sure if I’ll post while I’m gone – we’ll have to see. Wishing you all a wonderful start to the school year!