Welcoming September

Youngest daughter lol

Mark Twain fan

Three birthdays celebrated on Sunday; 64 6 & 5.
It's always fun to have all five grands out with their parents and favorite aunt.
And the weather was fabulous.
Good enough for tractor rides, kicking the ball about and a fairy village invasion.

Tenley in the wood-lot

And where was Wilson while all these shenanigans were going on...

Way up high in the loft minding his p's and q's.

It's very fall-like around Fox Grove these days.

\

And it will soon be time to fatten up our resident birds with cooler weather on it's way.

Chickadees are still a favorite here. :)

It's back to work here on the house and landscaping and
rain is on it's way.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.
Be kind,
Deb

As summer winds down.

Our tree toad is back again

and he's as happy as a clam in his birdhouse.

And look at this show-off.

Autumn must be near because even with one good hand I had to bake pumpkin muffins.

And it was worth it.

We spent a night watching our grands last wknd.

They live on a beautiful piece of property about an hour from us.

Gramps, Tenley and Cooper having a (very early) morning walk-about. 

That first mug of coffee, a beautiful morning with grandittle and a silly lovable cat.

Kitty-client Sunny

Sweetest cat ever.

My busy month for cat-sitting is winding down and 

I am so grateful for all the help from the retired-guy

who has never been so busy in his life.

As if he needed more to do. :-b

I received great news after my x-ray this week...no break.

The cast is off and I am just not to use my hand too much and only lift light things such as a beverage. ;)

OK, then.

September should be back to normal now.

And the fall clean-up begins at Fox Grove.

be kind,

Deb

August summed-up.

Where the heck did August go?
If we aren't working on the house we are working on the landscaping. And by landscaping I don't mean green grass and pretty flowers. I mean moving loads of dirt to the back, picking up huge rocks and small stones as there are hundreds here (I fell over one), ploughing, grading and burning brush.
The pretty stuff comes next year, God willing.

I have all but given up on the veggie garden since injuring my hand. I'm just harvesting (with a little help from the grands) and turning a blind eye to weeds. I have yet to get the tomatoes boiled down and made into a sauce starter for freezing. There's nothing more tasty in the middle of our wretched winters. We are enjoying some wonderful meals this week.

This cutie loves nana's sunflowers.

Wilson is learning to walk on a leash.

He may be a slow learner but I have faith.

I want him to have fresh air but we have coyotes, fox, fishers and raccoons here.

I want this guy to have a long and happy life.

He spent much of the day in the new house on the top step of the stairs to the loft watching us work. :)

Or on his chaise lounge in the sun at the patio window.
He's a slacker.

This beauty popped up at the side of our garage. :)

And this beauty has moved in to a bird house that was vacated recently by a house wren and her brood. It's a tree frog. 
I hope he hangs around because he's a laugh to see as you walk by the garden.

Haha... Cute, eh!

Well, August is my busiest month for cat-sitting and I have to say it has been quite a struggle the last two weeks. I don't know what I would have done without help from the retired-guy. He has become a champion of cracking open those cans of stinky goodness and sweeping up around the litter box. Why I even needed him to help open doors with keys, for heaven's sake. But on a good note, the cats had one more person to pamper them and make a fuss.

Monday I find out if I have a fracture on my left hand. If I do it's 6-8 weeks in this contraption. :(
I have absolutely no pain anymore and am not taking any pain-killers. I will be very surprised if they find a fractured bone and hope to be free of this fashion-statement soon. 
Who has time for this, right ladies?

Enjoy your weekend everyone.
be kind,
Deb

Thank you

Thank you to all you lovely people who sent such nice and thoughtful messages my way. I wish I could thank you in person.
I am still waiting for another appt. so I still don't know what I have done to my hand but I'm just going to hope it is healing under my soft cast and I will soon be out of it. This is no way to end a summer. The 'to do' list has left the building and I am just doing what is necessary with help, of course.

It's very boring when you are laid up but I am still trying to photograph with one arm the resident characters that keep us entertained. 
I captured this guy this morning...

then walked through the wood-lot to spy on the fairies.

They were entertaining a newbie that flew in on her ladybug.

They sure love the mud.

I checked the garden to see if the cantaloupe were ready for picking. Not quite.

There were beans to harvest, tomatoes, cukes and lettuce that needed immediate picking.

Maybe later today, I thought.

I am in a sling now to keep my arm elevated and it is ghastly hot in this humid weather.

I think I need tea and cake. :-b

yes I do.

Look at this face...

If looking at Sunny isn't the best medicine I don't know what is.

And he is a doll; a Ragdoll, that is.

He is one of my charges this week

and with a little help he is getting all the care and attention he deserves.

I sit on the floor and hug him and he melts.

His partner in crime is Charlie.

Not a bad job I have, right?

Two gorgeous boys.

Well, that's enough typing for this sore hand

so I will bid you 

"Good day."

be kind, Deb

So this happened...

and it has thrown me for a loop.
Not only is there lots to do around Fox Grove but I also have cat-sitting booked and I can't even open a can of stinky goodness :( or open a litter bag, lock a door or drive a car. 
This is where the retired guy comes in. :-b
As if he doesn't have enough to do I will be dragging him from the house construction to help me out.
"For better or worse" remember.
So here is how easy something like this can happen.
I was hanging up laundry in the gorgeous sunshine, stepped back and fell over a large rock that had possibly dropped from the load that was taken to the back. 
I tried to stop my fall and landed hard on my hand.
Ouch and a few ***swear*** words. But I thought I was fine.
That evening my hand swelled up and I have no words to explain the pain.
I have torn ligaments and possibly a fracture that so far is not showing up on x-rays.
I see a surgeon this week to have another x-ray done by him.
If there is a fracture I'll be in a cast for awhile. "Nooooo!"
So I guess that's it for me in the garden this year.
I won't be helping out with the new house and my day to day activities are limited. I can't even dry my hair. I had the retired-guy do it and I looked like I had just left a walk-in hair salon owned by three year olds.
So I guess it's time for a new style. 

be kind, Deb

August brings change.

It's harvest time for some of my tiny garden this year. I wasn't even going to put one in with all the mess and business around here but I did; a small one.

It's now producing nicely.

We'll have our first feed of yellow beans tonight. And the tomatoes are turning red.

Still waiting on cauliflower, broccoli

and carrots.

And more beans, please.

August brings lots of change and already the air feels different.

The days are a bit shorter and we have had a week of rain.

The sunflowers are at their peak.

We have also just had the hottest and most humid summer on record.

It's been dreadfully hot.

Ugh!

So, saying that, I am ready for the crisp air of Autumn.

I love the Fall; everything about it.

And I hope it is a really long one this year.

I think Wilson agrees.

Over the summer months we have had visitors from out of town, celebrated birthdays and I am out cat-sitting much of the day.
Meeting and caring for some of the local fabulous felines while their owners travel is what I do and sometimes it's hard to call it a job. I visit once or twice a day, feed and care for their needs, play and brush for bonding and often snuggle in a chair with a book and a sleeping cat on my lap. I have the best job ever. :-) =^..^=
And August is one of the busiest months.
Business is booming while owners get their last vacation in before school is back in session.
So no wonder the days are flying by.
Here are 4 of my kitty clients...

Neo, Minou, Luna and Serena

Such amazingly beautiful and good-natured cats. All happy and well loved. :)

Our two mischief-makers are always under our feet at the house while we work away. I guess Wilson thinks the sub-floor is more comfy than his bed. Plus he's as nosey as can be.

I hope the summer has been good to everyone.
I am just heading out to cat-sit so I will wish you all a good night.

be kind, 
Deb

Catching up today.

Three weeks fly by in the summer. Busy hands, minds running amuk and hot, humid days are what we experience now.
The gardens are finally getting some rain the last two days so there's one job I can walk away from for awhile.
Our veggie garden is small but happy and I am getting lettuce, cucumbers and herbs from it daily.
Our tomatoes are still green.
The yellow beans are slow coming.
Our critters are busy running about and the retired-guy has taken to feeding three crows that he would like to tame. (What??)
 He finds them fascinating but unfortunately they scare off the small birds.
He has had to move their feeding spot far from the feeders.
The turkeys are here every evening to clean up and then they head to the wood-lot to sleep high up in the maples.
Now that I know they are there they won't scare the life out of me at 7am again. :-[
And I love to find a feather for my collection.

Annie and Wilson are good friends now and spend much of their day resting together and trying to stay cool.
Wilson was just at the vet to have his first check-up and her words were..."He's going to be a live-wire. And I give him an A+." She fell for the little guy instantly and he remembered his manners.

A few photos around and about the mouse-house.

Mr. A+

It's 'oh, so busy'

in the wood-lot

The Fairy Village 

at High Tea

I posted this on instagram (Life at Fox Grove)and had the cutest comment...

"Wilson is losing his stuffing." :)

I hope all is enjoying their summer.

I will be back soon

with more updates.

be kind, Deb