August Daze

My body knows it's August   My mind knows it's August.  My eyes see that it is August.  There are many signs.

The basil is ready for harvest and we made pesto today.

 It's a messy business, incorporating basil, walnuts (instead of pine nuts), Parmesan cheese and olive oil. Notice I left out the garlic.  We are not a garlic loving family.

Tom went off to have his eyes examined, and I finished up, making about six pints for the freezer. 

Outside the late summer flowers are blooming.

There are sunflowers!   So far the squirrels haven't come and robbed us of their sunshiny faces.

Speaking of squirrels, and other varmints,  I also know it's August because, like every year at this time, the moles are now tunneling all over under the grass and the squirrels are digging little holes all over the lawn, and probably the raccoons visited last night and tore up the mole tunnels.  The lawn is not looking so good.

With very little rain since the end of June, the lawn is going brown even here where we have a sprinkler system.  A little added boost from a hose end sprinkler keeps the sunny parts from going dismally brown.  Brown is the look for most yards in the neighborhood however, which is why the moles choose ours.

Having declared that these last two weeks of August would be slower, I've been 'working' on just that.  I've been taking short walks in the morning when it's cool, keeping busy until 1:00, and then having lunch on the patio, followed by reading and blogging in the shade.

In the evenings I take another short walk, so my daily total still adds up to about 3 or more miles.  Sciatica has been giving me a lot of trouble, and interferes with my sleep, so I am going easy for now.

This morning as I walked around the neighborhood school, the one I retired from EIGHT years ago - wow- I saw lots of cars in the parking lot.  I know it's August when the teachers are back in their classrooms, getting them ready and attending meetings and training sessions.  And I am ever so glad I am not joining them!

With my work done for the day I took a walk around with my camera before lunch.  More signs of August

 I love this kind of sunflower, what ever it is - a whole bouquet on one stem.

 Marigold time.

 It is not sweet pea time, but they bloomed so late that they are still going strong way into August.

 Bees are landing on flowers and fill the air around them.

 Zinnias and asters mean late summer here.

 The first color is showing on the late blooming sedums.

 Fall blooming kafir lily is opening it's first blooms.

Pinky Winky hydrangea has gone from white to pink.

 There is rangy profusion.

 Japanese anemone, the few I have left, since they are thugs.  

                                        Bee-utiful!

 Spiders are everywhere.  You carry a stick and wave it in front of you first time through any area of the yard each day.

 The golden hop vine is producing lots of cone flowers.  I have no idea if they are good for beer making, but we have a good crop.

As I walk in the evenings, the sun is setting much earlier.  I tell myself summer is NOT over, but there is that tiny feeling of melancholy that creeps in, and that I chase away. 

It's another sunny day, and there's still time to play!